The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Hardcover – November 16, 2021

This oddity contains a wealth of language and emotional discovery. It explores difficult aspects of our experience in a novel and often darkly humorous manner. It is an oddly fun read yet can be moving, too. This curiosity is great for language lovers, sensitive souls, people with slightly darker senses of humor, and goth tee s who want to revel in the glorious misery unleashed by their shiny new box of hormones. I received it as a gift twice, and passed my extra copy on to a writer friend who also enjoyed it.

Got this for Christmas, although for some reason, it was delayed. No matter, it was well worth the wait. I confess I haven't "finished it" because it is a dictionary of sorts, and I keep in the bathroom to read a bit at a time. Who cares. Move on.Physically, the book is beautiful, feels good in the hand, and is visually appealing, in a sort of well, in an alternate universe, this book could have magic and power. It should hum or have fairy sparks coming from it. It does have power, truly.This is a dictionary of words that don't exist but should, to describe the feeling of certain moments like looking wistfully out a windowpane that is dripping with rain. The words are carefully constructed, often with Latin roots, such that they SHOULD exist, and well, now they do.I think the title may be a bit misleading. This is not a volume designed to make one despair, to get the hankies out and boo-hoo along with the saddest songs one can think of. Rather, it is a poetic journey through fleeting moments and recognitions.For example: Echthesia: noun A state of confusion when your own internal sense of time doesn't seem to match the calendar--knowing that something just happened though it apparently took place seven years ago; or that you somehow built up decades of memories in the span of a year and a half.I sure have this and am delighted to have it put to words. I assumed my woogie sense of time was either early onset Alzheimer's or a byproduct of being the child of alcoholics. There's hope, then.Wildly creative and wise, these new words rearrange my brain a bit and make me yearn to write poetry. Unfortunately, to date, I don't seem to demonstrate an ability for same, but this would surely help.Poets? Writers? Dreamers? Bibliophiles? You need this dictionary. Ha-ha, pun intended, take not mine, but Mr. Koening's word for it!

After learning of this Book via a newsletter I received and purchased. It is a unique approach to various life thoughts and actions/reactions individuals can or do look at life and situations. The information is collated in sections and then the author defines the words.While the name is a bit misleading, the parts I have read are enlightening and intriguing, offering new ways or bringing to my brain a new way of looking at simple things. I have also purchased this as a gift for a long-time friend.

The media could not be loaded. For each word, there’s enough room for a beautiful definition and description. It’s either a mini few sentences or a whole page of story unfolding. There’s a bunch of beautiful black and white art and photography pieces that represents each word in there. Overall I love this lil book, it’s a vast collection of words. I love how this is hardcover too and it’s textured. It’s just really pretty and feels nice to touch, it’s small and can be carried around easily without concern abt size.

Very very creative and insightful. Great book for someone who has trouble identifying/ expressing feelings, deep thinkers

Not sure what else that can be said here. The book is clever, different, and entertaining. It makes light of itself while still hitting realistic points for everyone. As far as quality, its a bit low for a "hardcover." Feels pretty cheap. Its not flimsy or flexible, but it feels like if you open it the wrong way you will crack the cover or rip the binding. Its also not a super large book. It is smaller than an A5 notebook. It is actually the same length as my fingertip to wrist and pinky to thumb in width. Fun read, worth a pick up. Wish it came in a paperback that felt a bit more .. lasting?

This book is everything I hoped it would be. The words and definitions are thoughtful, well written, and ring all sorts of bells.If you don’t already know, the premise is that there are things we all experience or feel that we don’t exactly have words for, and this book sets out to provide them- which it does quite well.But beyond the word itself, it also explains and guides through some of the more elusive emotions that we live through, and does so with kindness, love and compassion.The book is divided into 6 chapters:1. Between living and dreaming (seeing the world as it is)2. The interior wilderness (defining who you are from the inside out)3. Montage of attractions (finding shelter in the presence of others)4. Faces in a crowd (catching glimpses of humanity from a distance)5. Boats against the current (holding on in the rush of the moment)6. Roll the bones (connecting the dots of a wide-open universe)Within each section the words are not listed alphabetically, but rather, thematically. As with any dictionary, I don’t think it’s meant to be read in order- you can if you want but I’ve been leafing through and skipping around.There is an index at the end which is alphabetical, in case you are looking for a particular word.The only thing I wish was different is that the pronunciations of each word are done with the emphasized syllable italicized instead of uppercase, which I don’t like but is a very tiny annoyance.Overall I would say this book is absolutely worth having, and reading!